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Unconventional diagnostic tests for Lyme borreliosis: a systematic review, 2019, Raffetin et al.

Discussion in 'Infections: Lyme, Candida, EBV ...' started by ME/CFS Skeptic, Sep 29, 2020.

  1. ME/CFS Skeptic

    ME/CFS Skeptic Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    3,492
    Location:
    Belgium
    Abstract:
    Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X1930388X

    The reason for posting this review of Lyme tests from 2019, is that in Belgium and elsewhere, doctors have used some of these tests such as the LTT-test and CD57+ to diagnose chronic Lyme disease.
     
    alktipping, sebaaa, Milo and 5 others like this.
  2. duncan

    duncan Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    1,572

    I suspect what they are trying to diagnose is Lyme disease. "Chronic" is nothing more than an adjective. Do they use "chronic"? Probably. At one time, pretty much everybody did, even IDSA-types in the US. It's just an adjective. However, it became politicized around the early 1990's, and remains so.

    As for the efficacy of diagnostics which deviate from CDC recommendation, it's important to understand what the gold standard is. What it isn't is any antibody algorithm adopted by the CDC or its surrogates in other countries. The two-tier guideline is widely understood to have inadequacies in many circumstances, including early stage Lyme, sero-negative Lyme, cases of antigenic variation(I have had this), etc. It also isn't PCR for a host of reasons, but primarily for its relatively low S/S.

    It's culture, and that is used successfully in a vanishingly small portion of diagnostic adventures - primarily when bulls-eye rashes are tested, which isn't even needed usually since EM's are diagnostic in and of themselves (unless you find yourself in the US midwest embroiled in the STARI debate).

    What all this boils down to is that if your are a patient that suspects late stage Lyme, you may be out of luck as far as a universally validated, reliable diagnostic metric. Personally, though, I think it's a good thing people/companies are trying to build one.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2020
    Mariaba, alktipping, sebaaa and 4 others like this.

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